Electrical Signature of Ion-Implantation Induced Defects in n-Silicon in the Defect Cluster Regime Studied using DLTS and Isothermal Transient Spectroscopies

We study electrical signature of defect clusters in KeV Ar ion-implanted n-silicon using Deep Level Transient Spectroscopy (DLTS) and isothermal capacitance spectroscopies such as time analyzed transient spectroscopy (TATS) and high resolution Laplace-DLTS. The samples are annealed at relatively low temperatures of 350 °C - 600 °C at which defect clusters are known to form and evolve. Contrary to the view that few dominant point-defect like traps are associated with defect clusters, our results show that the band gap may be replete with bands of multiple trap states; however their occupation and hence observation depends on experimental conditions dictated by dynamics of carrier capture and emission at these traps. Charge redistribution among multiple states and deepening of effective emission energy with capture are shown to be commonly occurring at these defects. Isothermal transient spectroscopy is shown to be appropriate tool for recognition of some of these features.